Category: SMU

Steel prices kept falling throughout last month. Hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices ended August at $725 per ton ($36.25 per cwt) on average, having fallen by $105 per ton during the month.

The more of you I talk to, the more the question seems to be not whether the United Auto Workers (UAW) will strike later this week but instead for how long. You’re also asking whether the UAW will target one union-represented automaker or whether it might take the unprecedented step of walking out at Ford, […]

We’re just a week away from a potential United Auto Workers (UAW) strike against one, or potentially all three, union-represented automakers. The latest turn of the screw: UAW President Shawn Fain said an offer from Detroit-based General Motors was “insulting.”

US imports look to have fallen to their lowest monthly level so far this year, based on August import license data compiled by the US Department of Commerce.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on a variety of subjects, including steel prices, demand levels, sheet prices abroad, inventory, and what people are talking about in the market. Rather than summarizing the comments we received, we are sharing some of them in each buyer’s own words.

US consumer confidence pulled back in August, declining for the first time in four months. The result came in after the index jumped to its highest level in nearly two years the month prior, consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions deteriorated, The Conference Board reported.

Steel Market Update’s Demand Index is still in contracting territory and moving lower, where it has been for the better part of the past four-plus months, according to the latest survey data.

The spot market remains quiet on fears of a potential United Auto Workers (UAW) union strike late next week.

The latest SMU Market Survey results are now available on our website to all Premium members. After logging in at steelmarketupdate.com, visit the Pricing and Analysis tab and look under the “Survey Results” section for “Latest Survey Results.” Historical survey results are also available under that selection. If you need help accessing the survey results, or if […]

Some of you may remember when the year “2000” seemed like the distant future.

Steel mill lead times were largely unchanged this week, with hot rolled extending slightly and plate falling back marginally.

SMU's Current and Future Steel Buyers Sentiment Indices both edged down this week, based on our most recent survey data.

The overall mill negotiation rate slipped this week, though plate jumped, rising by 25 percentage points, according to SMU's most recent survey data.

We’re roughly a week removed from the 2023 Steel Summit and some of the discussions, both on stage and the the sidelines of the event, remain of critical importance to many in the industry.

I headed back to the Atlanta airport after Steel Summit in 2022 hoping to catch up with a few colleagues and contacts only to learn that Cleveland-Cliffs had just announced a price hike. So, I set everything aside, opened up my laptop, and filed a short article about the $75-per-ton ($3.75-per-cwt) price increase from a […]

The Mexican government has placed temporary levies of 25% on inward-bound shipments of steel products from countries with which it does not have a free trade agreement.

The LME aluminum 3-month price moved higher this week wrapping up the week at $2,170 per ton on Aug. 25.

This year, the 13th annual edition of our Summit, we polled more than 1,450 attendees about where prices and demand would be, come August 2024.

I learned a lot at Steel Summit this year. More than I can do justice to in one column. Below are four things that have stayed with me after the conference closed on Wednesday afternoon. Another, as I highlighted earlier this week, was electricity – who gets it, and which energy sources we use. 1. […]

At every Steel Summit, a few themes seem to emerge that I didn’t anticipate. In 2021, I remember the theme being that scrap would be the next precious metal. (And also that Cleveland-Cliffs planned to expand in to the scrap market.) This year, I expected that there would be a lot of discussion about decarbonization. What I didn’t entirely expect was that we’d be talking so much about electricity and power generation.

Global steel production increased 6.6% year over year (YoY) in July to 158.5 million metric tons, according to the latest report from the World Steel Association (worldsteel).

Barry Zekelman, executive chairman and CEO of Zekelman Industries, joined SMU managing editor Michael Cowden in a fireside chat to close out the 2013 Steel Summit’s opening day.

Steel Market Update’s Demand Index remains in contracting territory, where it has been for most of the last four months, according to the latest survey data. While the market did react temporarily in response to mill price hikes in mid-June, apparent demand for flat-rolled steel in the US continues to trend down.

I’m excited to see pretty much the entire steel industry this week in Atlanta. I’m looking forward to the networking and to learning from our great lineup of speakers. I also what not draw your attention to some highlights from our latest steel market survey. (Full results are here.) Some of these topics will be discussed along the sidelines as well as up on the stage.

The latest SMU Market Survey results are now available on our website to all Premium members.

SMU's Current Sentiment Index slipped this week, while the Future Steel Buyers Sentiment Index jumped 10 points from the last market check, according to our most recent survey data.

I am happy to announce that there are officially now more than 1,400 people attending SMU Steel Summit next week in Atlanta. That’s a new record for us, and I thank all of you for making it possible. I am also happy to say that Barry Zekelman, executive chairman and CEO of Zekelman Industries, will be joining us for the first fireside chat of Steel Summit on Monday, Aug. 21, at 3:40 pm ET.

Mill lead times for most sheet products this week were basically flat compared to SMU's market check two weeks ago. Those for plate shortened once again.

I wrote on Sunday about U.S. Steel being for sale and Cleveland-Cliffs announcing that it was the among bidders for the iconic Pittsburgh-based steelmaker. I have heard some interesting theories on who the other bidders might be. Foreign mills, domestic mills, private equity - even Elon Musk, which I think is when things started to really jump the shark.

US service center flat-rolled steel inventories spiked in July with a slowdown in shipments. At the end of July, service centers carried 56.1 shipping days of flat roll supply, according to adjusted SMU data.